DeAndre Hopkins made it very clear to the Houston Texans that he wanted a new contract that paid him close to the same amount of Julio Jones. It was a bit shocking when the Texans decided to trade Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals, but it's pretty clear now why they shipped him off.

According to Peter King of NBC's Football Morning in America, Hopkins didn't just want an extension, he wanted a raise for the last three years on his contract:

“Hopkins wasn’t looking for an extension; he was looking for a raise on his existing contract, which has three years left on it. And word other teams had gotten was that he wanted around what Julio Jones got, more than $20 million per year.”

Hopkins is set to make $12.5 million during the 2020 season, according to Spotrac.com. Hopkins has three years left on his deal but there is no dead cap space if they cut him, so it makes sense he wants a pay raise and guaranteed money for some stability.

There was some criticism for the return the Texans got for Hopkins, but King thinks the contract that Hopkins wants really limited the trade market:

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“If you’re the team trading him, that makes it exponentially more difficult to move even a star player—Antonio Brown would be Exhibit A there. Last year, the trade market for Brown crashed when it became clear he wanted a similar adjustment to what Hopkins is asking for. Brown wound up getting it.”

Hopkins and the Cardinals haven't worked out a long term deal, but the thought is that should be coming soon or the trade probably wouldn't have happened.